He’s confident and competent. He’s good at this.
I don’t fault him for it. I can’t.
He’s charming and subtle and practically a genius.
I don’t know why I’m surprised. I’ve always known Keegan is crazy smart, despite his efforts to downplay it. I’ve always known his ability to charm and disarm is next level.
But this? Seeing it in person?
It’s stunning.
And not in a good way.
In a hit-up-side-the-head with an anvil Wile E. Coyote kind of way.
In a someone-just-cut-a-best-friend-sized-hole-in-my-chest kind of way.
I take a few deep breaths, fanning myself again with the flier about the auction. Keegan notices, and pauses in the discussion to whisper, “Do you need another drink? It is warm out here.”
Do I need another drink? Not necessarily, but I welcome the distraction it provides when Keegan flags down a server and another glass appears in my hand.
Briefly apart from the conversation, Keegan grins down at me. “You were amazing.”
The pride in his voice heals the best-friend-sized-hole in my chest. Just a little bit. “Thank you.”
It helps too that he’s not touching me anymore. A few steps away from the conversational knot, he doesn’t have a reason to keep his hand on my hip to steer me clear of topics I should avoid.
“Harvard Business Review, huh?”
“I have to read something to help me fall asleep at night.”
He’s about to reply when something catches his eye over my shoulder. Lips pressed together, he angles us back toward his parents just in time for me to see Selah approach the group.
She’s wearing an asymmetrical, cut out dress that displays sizable chunks of cleavage as well as her ridiculously tiny waist. It’s the kind of thing I would look ridiculous in, but because of her height and willowy frame, she looks like modern art. Her platinum hair is ironed to sleek perfection. If she’s feeling the effects of the heat, it doesn’t show at all.
If I were less kind, I’d say it’s because cold-blooded animals don’t sweat.
But I know that’s just me being petty because she’s gorgeous, and I shouldn’t let my own insecurities affect how I view other women. So, I smile as she joins the group.
Bruce pauses to put his hand on her shoulder, suddenly beaming. “Keegan, I believe you know my favorite niece, Selah.”
Wait. What?
She’s Bruce's niece?
“Yeah, we’re neighbors.”
Wrapping her hand around Keegan’s arm like he’s her property, she gives him a kiss, barely missing the corner of his mouth, as she trills, “It’s such a small world, right?”
Keegan gives a smirk. “Yeah, I think we knew that already, though. Weren’t you the one who introduced my parents to your uncle?”
“Oh, that’s right.” She twitters, as she turns to Loretta and Johnny. “I’ve known y’all for so long, I forgot.” She releases her death grip on Keegan’s arm long enough to give Loretta and Johnny hugs and air kisses. “It was when we were on the trip to the Bahamas, wasn’t it?”
It’s the way she looks at Keegan as she asks that clues me in.
I would have missed it if I hadn’t been watching her so closely because I was waiting to see if she even acknowledged my presence. For the record, she doesn’t. But I don’t even have a chance to be insulted by that, because that subtle undercurrent to her question just about knocks me off my feet.
When we were on that trip ...
